When I Was A Little Girl
Chapter 13
By: Chibi J
Rated: G
Editor: Sailor Sista!!!
Once again, I am dedicating this story to everyone at Aria's Ink. I know you don't think that I have been around the asylum much lately, but I have. I may not reply to the jokes, but they make me laugh. You may think that I don't hear your problems, but I do, and I feel for you, hope for you, and pray for you.
I haven't felt much in the writing mood, due to the really busy life I'm currently living. However, with a lack of anything to read today, I decided to check my reviews. There were no new ones, so I almost left. But then I decided to look at the older ones. The praise and glory you all throw on me is ridiculous, but inspiring. After all, I'm just an obsessed fan looking for a creative outlet. I'm nothing spectacular or special. But you all make me feel so wonderful that, if I wasn't slightly sunburned on my cheeks already, I would be red from blushing.
THANK YOU ALL!!!
And, since it took me so long to write this chapter, I have made it super long, just especially for you, my faithful readers!
Ps. Don't own, never will.
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*A brief interlude*
Sometimes I feel that the others are picking on me. I mean, they all know my feelings about this girl. So what do they do to me, make me talk to her more. Not just more, mind you, but in private.
"So, how 'bout you tell me what you know, and I fill in the gaps." I said in my most polite voice. Michiru nodded her head, causing her beautiful aqua colored hair to lightly bounce on her shoulders.
"Well, I know that you have all been in service for about two years. It appears that Sailor Moon is your leader, that's Usagi, right?" She questioned and I nodded dutifully. "Lets see..." She wandered off in thought, absently twirling a strand of hair around her dainty, well-manicured finger. "And Mamoru is the only male of the group, besides the talking white cat, and appears to be Usagi's."
I smiled at her last comment. Even though this development had only come about, it filled me with great happiness. Mamoru was a great guy and definitely fell into what I would consider the "close friend" category. And Usa was, well...Usa. She deserved every happiness in the world. If Mamoru could keep her smiling, then I am happy for them.
"Well then, I guess I should fill in the rest." I said with a smile, trying to clear my mind of my previous romantic thoughts. After all, what chances would I have with this lovely vision in front of me? "To start from the beginning, Usa and Rei were the first two senshi. They both have telepathic powers, as does their grandfather and Usa's brother. Soon after came Mercury and they learned that Minako was Venus, but she lived in England. Next, Makoto joined and I came shortly after and here we are."
Michiru kept nodding her head as I rambled, taking everything in with careful thought. Meanwhile, I felt like smacking myself in the head. If things came out of my mouth the way I thought they did, then I sounded like a moron.
"Okay, but what about Tuxedo Kamen?" She asked, slightly tipping her head in his direction. Like I said, I should smack myself.
"Oh yeah." I said in a rather goofy voice. 'What's wrong with me!?!' I shouted in my head. I noticed Rei, across the room, turn in my direction and stare at me with a raised eyebrow. "Mamoru lives with Makoto. They were raised in the same orphanage, so they are like brother and sister. He's kind of like a side-kick that helps out." I ended with a big grin.
"SIDE-KICK!!" Mamoru shouted. I forgot that he was only a couple of feet away from me. The evil look that he gave me made me laugh out loud. Luckily, Usagi restrained him from getting up, while the other girls didn't even seem to notice as they questioned Usagi about their relationship.
"Gomen, gomen." I said, waving it off as if it were nothing. However, I knew I would hear about it later.
Michiru and I continued to discuss the youmas, generals, and the little information we had about the bad guys. It was truly difficult to concentrate on what we were talking about due to the proximity of her body to mine. True, we had just met that day (AN: Can you believe that! I've never had one day last a whole chapter, lot less continue into the next chapter! This day started back in chapter 11!), but I definitely felt something for the girl in front of me.
Throughout our conversation, I noticed that Michiru had relaxed some and started smiling more often. When I had finished telling her everything that I possibly could, she knew almost everything about all of us. But, I realized that I knew nothing about her.
"So, tell me about yourself." I asked, trying to remedy the situation.
"Well," She began with a bright smile on her face. "I love to play the violin, regardless of the fan-dom that comes with it. I enjoy painting as a release to life. And..." She began but paused. Her face looked like a child who was holding the last cookie.
"And?" I prompted.
"And I have empathic abilities."
What?
"What?"
"I have empathic abilities."
"And what does that exactly mean?"
"That I can read other peoples' emotions by simply touching them." She said as she reached her hand over and touched mine.
'She can read other peoples' emotions. By simply touching them.' I thought to myself. Then I looked down to where her hand was resting on my own. 'She can read other peoples' emotions. By simply touching them.' Her hand is on my hand. My mind was spinning.
'Look up Haruka!' Rei's voice shouted into my own. Confused, I did as Rei said, not even wondering how Rei was involved in all of this.
My eyes came up to meet hers. They were bright and happy. She was smiling and a light blush crossed her cheeks. Without any registration of what was happening, she slowly leaned forward and kissed me on my cheek.
"What was that for?" I asked, completely lost and confused, but extremely happy.
"For feeling the same way about me as I feel about you."
I'm not sure that anyone else noticed, but I could tell that my mouth was opening and closing like a fish, due to lack of the ability to speak.
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'Why is Haruka doing an impersonation of a fish?' I wondered to myself, as I looked at the two girls in the corner. Rei had been staring at the two of them for some time, to the point where I could no longer restrain my curiosity.
"Um, gomen, what was that Minako?" I asked, blushing slightly in embarrassment for missing her question.
"I asked if this is going public." Minako replied. I turned to Mamoru to get his response. I mean, he and I seemed to be a couple, but how did he feel about it. He had been sitting quietly as the girls fired questions at me about the kiss and how it all started and what Sato had said to me.
"I'd like it to." He replied simply, flashing me a handsome smile. I blushed even more. I felt like I was melting inside.
"Ah-hem." Artemis loudly, and artificially, cleared his throat. "I'm sure we are all having a lot of fun here tonight, but it is getting late."
I looked at my watch and saw that he was right. It was nearing midnight and no one had done the evil assignments the teachers gave us. Tomorrow was the second day of school and the lack of completed homework would not make a good impression.
"He's right." Luna agreed, which was far from surprising.
Within a matter of minutes, everyone was up and stretching, or gathering their things. As we approached the front door, I could hear the sounds of rain outside on the porch.
"I didn't know it was suppose to rain tonight." Makoto commented as Rei opened the door. It was not only raining, but pouring. Ami, always the one to need to know all the facts, pulled out her mini-computer and began to type away.
"Clear skies, overnight high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit (AN: sorry folks, I don't know Celsius). Sunset at 8:41 pm." Ami read from her screen.
"Well, so much for the accuracy of weathermen." Minako said with a sigh. "We are going to get soaked trying to get home."
"And I don't even have my car." Haruka grumbled. The girls then looked to Mamoru with hope in their eyes.
"Sorry, we came here after school, well sort of." Mamoru answered the question on all of their minds. After school he had run out after Usagi. Then there was a youma. Then they went to the park. Then there was a youma and a general. Then they came to the shrine. He never had a chance to go home, a lot less pick up his car.
"I'll set up the sleeping bags in the other room." Grandfather mumbled as he walked into and out of the room. Someday I will figure out my grandfather.
'No you won't.' Echoed in my mind with three different voices. Evidently Grandfather wanted his mysterious ways, and Shingo and Rei knew that we would never understand him.
"Okay, who needs to use the phone to call and explain things to their parents?" I asked, only to see a few hands. To anyone else, the lack of parents among all of my friends would probably be a shock, but to us, it was life.
"This way." I said and led the small group, Ami, Minako, and Michiru, towards my room.
~*~
When morning dawned, I rose as normal. Stumbling around the bodies spread across the floor, I noticed Rei standing and stretching to my left. She waved at me and greeted me with a 'Good morning' that only I could hear. We quietly made our way to the kitchen to have a quick breakfast before beginning our chores. After a few minutes, Shingo joined us in the kitchen and we talked a little about how his first day of school went.
Chores, as always, took a little less than an hour to complete. The rain had stopped, leaving little puddles around the shrine as the only proof that it had rained. The sky was clear as the sun made it's way into the morning sky. It looked as though it would be a wonderful day.
'Of course it is wonderful, little miss I-got-a-boyfriend.' Rei said in a slightly jealous tone. She was raking leaves on the back half of the shrine while I was sweeping the stairs. Shingo was off picking up sticks when he heard that little bit of info.
'Usa's got a boyfriend!?!' He shouted in our minds. 'Who? Since when?' He had a slight tone of worry in his voice.
'Don't worry Shingo. It's Mamoru. Since yesterday afternoon.' I replied, hoping to alleviate some of his concern.
'Oh.' He replied simply and let the subject drop. I was slightly concerned, but opted to let him be.
"Usa?" A weary voice sounded from the top of the stairs. I looked up to see Minako rubbing her eyes as she stood on the front porch of the shrine.
"Hai!" I replied cheerfully as I bounded up the stairs.
"How do you have so much energy?" She asked as she yawned.
"Just do. You get used to early mornings around here." I said with a smile. It didn't help that I had had over a year of talking to her on the phone, late at night with the early mornings. Although it took a while, the lack of sleep no longer bothered me.
"Well, I'm gonna head home to get ready. I'll see you at school." She said as she started down the stairs.
"See you later, Mina!" I said as I waved goodbye to my friend.
Shortly after, the rest of the slumber party began to file out of the shrine. The last to leave, Mamoru, made me promise not to leave for school until he returned. I blushed and nodded my head before he leaned down to give me a brief kiss goodbye. It definitely would be a wonderful day.
~*~
Wonderful day. Yeah right! I could wish. Besides the annoying teachers, I was being stared at by every set of female eyes in the school. I could hear whispers behind my back that I couldn't quite make out. But, knowing that they were probably things I didn't want to hear, I decided not to try and find out.
In fact, I was doing such a good job of blocking out the thoughts that Rei had to yell at me telepathically to get me to respond. She was trying to set up a study group for the afternoon, but wanted to make sure that I didn't have any plans.
'No plans but homework. These teachers are vultures. They only want us to keel over from the homework so that they can pick at our remains.' I responded.
'Well thanks Usa. With that lovely thought now planted in my head, I will see you later.'
I giggled quietly to myself as I made my way out of the classroom into the hall. I was grateful for the end of the school day and the fact that I would see Mamoru as soon as I stepped out of the classroom.
However, when I saw him, I saw something that I didn't expect. Sato was talking to him, well, more like shouting. I could hear her throwing around insults about me, before she reached out and slapped him for defending me.
As I got within about three feet of them, I could clearly hear Sato, even though I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"She's a slut and so is her mom. Why would you want to go around with some low-life nobody? All she's worth is some nasty diseases and infections. Not to mention that her father is a drug dealer and her brother is in juvenile detention for stealing."
I'm sure that anyone nearby would have thought that Crayola was inspired for the color red on my face. My blood was boiling. Mamoru looked at me and simply stepped back, knowing that there would be no stopping me.
"How dare you." My voice came out with a growl that would make Luna proud. "How. Dare. You!" I shouted louder, gaining the attention of everyone around. Yet Sato simply looked at me with a smug smile.
"You know it's true, everyone does. It's all over the school." She said as she waved her hand around the student body that were watching with wide eyes. Yet, I could only see red. Flames higher that the sacred fire that Rei so loves, were burning through my veins. My hands were clutching at my sides so hard that I'm sure I could have broken a lead pipe.
Then, she sealed her fate. She stuck her finger in my face and began laughing. Her finger dropped as she felt the need to wrap her hands around her waist. She was laughing at me. Soon, everyone around, except Mamoru and the other senshi who had now come into sight, were laughing at me.
The sound of their laughter filled my ears. I could see nothing in front of me but a blur. Yet the sound of their laughter pounded in my head. Then it all stopped. I could hear only two people laughing. I knew the laughter. I had memorized that sound long ago. My mother and father. They were laughing as we all used to. In my head I could hear them laughing with Shingo and I after we heard something funny on the TV. It was wonderful! I could have listened to that sound all day.
But it suddenly died. They had suddenly died.
The sound of the evil laughter filled my head again. I forced my eyes to focus. I could see Mamoru looking at me with concerned eyes. I blinked my eyes as I moved from his eyes, to hers.
Then, everything happened so quickly. I pulled my arm back, my hand still in a fist, and threw it forward with all of my strength behind it. Not just my average strength, which was amazing due to my years of karate training, but my strength as a senshi.
I'm not sure where the hit landed, except for the fact that it landed on Sato. My body was quickly pulled back as the girl hit the ground. Again, my vision blurred, due to the energy that I had forced through my fist. The only thing that I could register was the fact that I was being pulled away. By whom and to where, I didn't know.
Unfortunately, it didn't take long to find out. After about two minutes of being dragged, I was flopped into a chair. When my vision cleared, I found myself in the principal's office. I groaned silently to myself. The two men that had been dragging me were teachers. Ironically, it was my last period teacher and Mamoru's last period teacher.
The two men quickly told the principal what they saw me do to Sato, and then left the room. Then it came. The ever-famous speech, which I swear must be printed in a book for principals. Yes, the "fighting is not condoned at this institution of learning" speech.
However, part way through his speech, there was a knock at the door. With a gruff "Enter" from Mr. Yash (the principal) the door opened. In walked six girls and one guy. You gotta love 'em.
"Mr. Yash," Mamoru began. "Please excuse us for interrupting you, but we are here to defend Usagi."
I had to laugh internally at the tone of voice he had. He sounded like a professional. However, it worked.
"Yes, Mr. Chiba. Well, what do you need to tell me?" He asked. It was obvious that Mr. Yash respected Mamoru. After all, he held the highest G.P.A. in the school and was well known for his manners and the respect he gave to his teachers.
Mamoru explained what happened and the circumstances surrounding my family. The tears began to fall from my eyes as he explained with such care the death of my family. Rei sat down next to me and wrapped her arms tightly around me. The rest of the girls stood off to the side, each with their heads slightly bowed.
"I understand Mr. Chiba, and I will see that Sato is dealt with, yet I cannot condone fighting, regardless of the cause."
Mamoru sighed deeply and his shoulders slumped down. I stood and wiped my tears from my eyes.
"Mr. Yash, I understand what I did was wrong. And I promise that it will not happen again. I will accept whatever punishment you give me." I said and bowed down my head, waiting.
"Ms. Tsukino, you will serve a week of suspension. All assignments missed during that time will be counted as zero and you will not be able to make it up."
"I understand." I said and bowed lower in acceptance. I rose back to my full height and turned to walk out the door. The girls stepped aside and let me through before following me out.
We walked in silence for about five minutes before anyone even attempted to approach me. The first was Rei. She came up on my left and grabbed my hand into hers. Shortly after, Mamoru came up on my right and took my hand into his. The rest walked behind.
As we approached the Shrine steps, a sense of dread filled my soul. I was a disgrace to the family. I had dishonored everyone that I loved. I lowered my head as we climbed up the shrine steps. When we neared the top, I noticed that Shingo and Grandfather were waiting for us. Shingo was holding Grandfather's hand and appeared to be crying.
Dread filled my heart. What had happened to upset Shingo? What else could happen today?
However, when I neared the two, Shingo ran to me and threw his arms around me. Tears ran freely down his face. Grandfather came up and wrapped his arms around us both. Rei joined in the hug soon after. Tears were coursing their way down my face. I didn't deserve such a caring family.
Slowly, we pulled apart. I opened my mouth to speak, but Grandfather beat me, although not vocally.
'Usa, I know. Do not fear my child, I understand.' Those few words filled me with comfort and I grabbed my grandfather into a hug again.
'But how...'
'Did I know?' He replied to my unasked question. 'My child, don't you know that I know everything?'
I think the look I gave him answered the question. My grandfather was many things, but all knowing he was not.
'Minako phoned us. Rei was too busy consoling you.'
"Minako?!"
"Hai." Her voice answered somewhat sheepishly as she waved a small pink cell phone.
I flashed her the first smile I had had almost all day. "Arigato."
Within moments, knowing the tension was broken, everyone had enveloped me into one large group hug. My guilt began to dissipate as everyone congratulated me for the punch I had delivered.
Our study session quickly turned into a miniature party and we were all running around the shrine having a good time. However, all good times must come to an end. Ours came with an unexpected blast of cold wind and a brief downpour of hail.
Confused by the weather once again, Ami told us of the beautiful forecast for the day. But the hail had come and gone with no explanation. Shortly after the brief storm, everyone decided to head home before suffering from more strange weather. Mamoru, however, stayed.
Mamoru and I retreated to the rear of the Shrine and chose to sit on a small bench that overlooked the back hill. We sat in silence for some time, with his arm draped across my shoulder, holding him close to me.
A soft sigh from Mamoru broke the silence. I looked up to his face, only to see that he was already looking down on me.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly.
"For what?" I asked, feeling confused.
"For what happened. You don't deserve to have such things said about you."
"Mamoru, it's not your fault. Besides, you know it's not true, that's all that matters to me." I said with a smile.
"Really?" He asked.
"Well, I would prefer that no one else believed it, but I'll be okay."
"It will be okay." He said, squeezing me in his arms.
"Thank you." I said quietly. He simply nodded his head, before leaning in to kiss me lightly.
Once again, we sat in comfortable silence, watching as the sun set into the horizon in a spectacular display of color.
~*~
I have to admit that it gets rather boring around the shrine when there is no one to talk too, no chores to do, and no homework to struggle with. The first two days weren't too bad, but the third was boring beyond belief. So truly, the events on day four of my five-day suspension could have been blamed on my wish to have something to do.
The call came through on the communicators a little after 3:00 in the afternoon. Everyone was out of school and on their way home to change out of their uniforms when Makoto and Mamoru sent out the call.
"Senshi, youma at the Mocha café."
Without much thought, I transformed and started to head towards the café, Luna and Artemis running behind. I could see Rei running ahead of me; evidently she had only been a couple blocks from home. I put on a quick burst of speed to catch up to her.
"Right, Mars, interesting meeting you here." I said with a light tone.
"Well, Moon, it has been a long time, hasn't it?" She replied sarcastically.
We continued in a light banter until we reached the café. To say that it was a mess was an understatement. A wrecking ball would cause less damage. However, amazingly enough, the damage was restrained to the café itself. The buildings on either side seemed to be intact.
The youma was of a pea green color and, for the first time ever, had a masculine figure. In fact, it lacked most of the ugliness of a typical youma as well. It was a simple, muscular, green youma. Even so, he had to go.
Unfortunately, the man he was holding in his grasp limited our abilities to attack him. Mamoru threw out several roses, aiming for his lower body. Minako attempted to aim a crescent beam at his head, but the creature easily dodged. The rest of us couldn't use our attacks, due to the large amount of area they would cover. The risk of injury to the beast's captive was too great.
However, that didn't last too long. The youma held his hand up to the man's chest and a light began to radiate from his hand. It didn't seem that energy was being removed, but more like something inside was coming out. And that it did. A red gem flew from the man's chest. The youma grabbed it and dropped the man to the ground.
With his arms free of the man, everyone let loose their attacks on the youma. He dodged several, but could not avoid all of them. He appeared to be weakening and would soon be easy to take out, but nothing can ever be what it appears.
A loud screech sounded from the man that the youma removed the crystal from. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that he was much of a man now. His body let off an eerie glow and when it faded, a twisted and snarling red youma was in his place (AN: sorry folks, these won't be the traditional crystal carriers or creatures that they turned into, although you may see a few familiar faces!).
Without a second to think, I fired off my tiara at the new youma. My tiara had little affect, seeming more like a paper cut than anything else.
"Alright Sailors, split up!" Luna yelled from her hiding spot under an overturned chair.
"And don't let that crystal get away!" Artemis added from the remains of a booth.
And thus the battle continued.
Many attacks later (AN: sorry again, I'm saving up fight scenes for some more important battles), it seemed that both youma were finally weakening.
"Sailor Moon!" Ami shouted over the sounds of multiple explosions. In her hand, as always, was the Mercury computer. "Now would be a good time to try your wand."
I nodded my understanding to the senshi of water and looked between the two youma. The only question was, which one first. The energy drain from using the Moon Wand was great and I had yet to perfect using it against one enemy. How would I be able to stand up against two?
As if in answer to my silent question (wonder if Rei had anything to do with this), the senshi seemed to have driven the two youma together, side-by-side. They were close enough that I could aim and get them both.
But will it work?
"Moon Healing Escalation!" I shouted as my body went through the motions. The power rushed out and into the two youma that stood before me.
However, my body was thrown into a fit of mixed emotions. The green youma, being of pure evil energy, was being killed. The red youma had been a human and was being healed. The two opposing forces in nature, death and life, were battling inside me, causing me to struggle to finish the task at hand.
With a scream of agony, a feeling of happiness washed over me.
Of course, after that, everything went black.
~*~
"We need to be more cautious of how she uses her power."
"Maybe she needs more training?"
"Maybe she needs more time to relax."
"Maybe she could just wait until the end to help, when we really need her."
"Maybe she needs to let us know when she wakes up so that we will not be talking about her when she does."
"Gomen." I said as I held my hand to my head and attempted to sit up. I failed miserably as my head spun.
"Usagi? Are you alright?" Minako asked in a sweet and loving voice. I really hate to dash her good mood by adding my not so pleasant response to that stupid question.
"Yeah. I'll be okay." I said with my eyes closed and my head lying on a soft pillow. A shift of the bed indicated that someone had sat on the edge of it.
I opened my eyes to be met by the concerned eyes of Mamoru. "Hi." I said quietly, worried about the expression on his face.
"Hi." He replied back, just as quietly. He brought his hand up to my cheek and stroked it gently. I reached my hand up to cover his own, touched by the love that I could feel radiating off of him.
"Usagi, do you think you could sit up?" Ami asked, computer in hand. "I'd like to run a scan to make sure everything is okay."
I nodded my head and sat up slowly, with Mamoru's help. With my first full view of the room I was in, I realized that it was not my own.
'We are at Makoto's and Mamoru's apartment.' Rei answered the unasked question that I was about to vocalize. 'It was the closest to the battle.'
"Did we win?" I asked, feeling silly immediately afterward. Of course we won, or we wouldn't be here.
"Yeah Usa, we won." Makoto answered with a smile. Everyone had squeezed into the small room, apparently to keep watch over me. It warmed my heart to know that they all cared about me so much.
Ami ran her scans and confirmed that I was okay, but maybe a little tired due to the extra energy I exerted. Everyone else continued to talk candidly around me, while I rested my head on Mamoru's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around me to help support my weight.
A short while later, Luna and Artemis entered the room, causing everyone to fall silent.
"We have taken a look into the crystal that we recovered from the battle today." Luna began. I had forgot all about the crystal that had been removed from the man. "We believe that it is from a series of crystals called the nijizuishou, which, when combined, will lead us to the ginzuishou."
I'm sure that the look that Luna received from each of us made her want to smack us all. After all, sometimes Luna forgets that we are not all knowing.
"Um," Ami started, in her usual quest for knowledge, "What is the ginzuishou?"
"The ginzuishou is a crystal of great power which can only be handled by the princess of the moon. If we are able to locate the crystal, then the princess will be revealed to us." Artemis explained. Several heads nodded, but I think that most of us were still craving more information.
"There are seven crystals, representing the colors of the rainbow. Each of you will be responsible for carrying a crystal, except Mamoru and Usagi, so that they are not all located in one place, thus making it easier for the enemy to capture. The red crystal that we received tonight will be guarded by Rei." Luna explained.
"If the crystal were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be disastrous." Luna added, making me feel a lot better. NOT!
The two cats looked at us as if that should have been enough of an explanation, while we looked at them waiting for more. Silence reigned in the room for several minutes before someone felt up to speaking.
"So you're telling us that, in addition to finding the prince and princess, which we haven't even tried to form a plan for, we have to collect these crystals?" Haruka asked with a bit of sarcasm in her voice. The cats nodded.
"But if we find all of the nijizuishou, they will lead us to the princess?" Makoto asked, double-checking her facts. The cats nodded again.
"Well, I'm free Saturday night, how's the rest of your schedules?" Haruka asked with a goofy grin, breaking the tension that had gathered. Several objects, including the pillow my head had been previously resting on, were thrown at her.
Michiru just dropped her head to her chest, suppressing the urge to laugh out loud as Haruka was pelted by pillows, an alarm clock, two different shoes, and a small plant (which Makoto yelled at Minako for). Although I'm unsure of what is between Haruka and Michiru, I could sense a deep bond forming.
~*~
The rest of the day was spent casually and as the evening approached, everyone began to wander home. Rei and I were preparing to depart, with Luna and Artemis at our feet, when Mamoru approached me.
"Usa, can you and I go for a walk?" He asked in a shy and sincere voice. I nodded my head and sent a short telepathic message to Rei to let Grandfather know where I was.
After leaving the apartment building, we wandered in silence towards the park. A sigh escaped from me when we approached the park. Even though it had been the location of many attacks, it truly was a beautiful place to visit. The night sky was alight with stars and a small sliver of the moon. The small lake reflected the sky in a mirror like quality, making it appear as if heaven had landed on earth.
Mamoru led me towards the bench by the rose bushes, a spot we were beginning to frequent more often, and we both sat down. The comfortable silence that had enveloped us continued on for some time, until Mamoru shifted slightly. I looked to find him staring down at me.
"What is it Mamoru?" I asked quietly, not wishing to disturb the beautiful atmosphere of the park.
"Usa, do you know that you are beautiful?" I blushed. What else was I suppose to do?! "You have such a caring soul and a wonderful outlook on life. So few people have even one of those traits."
"Mamoru..." I tried to speak, but he quickly cut me off by placing a finger to my lips.
"Usagi, please, let me finish." I nodded my head and he removed his finger from my lips, only to rest his hand on my cheek. "It has been a long time since I have let anyone into my life. When my parents died, a part of me felt as if it had died as well. When I met Makoto and found that she was suffering just as I was, I felt that I had a weight lifted off of me. I learned to care for Makoto as a little sister and she responded in kind to me.
"But I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that I would feel the way that I do when I am around you."
I felt a tear escape from my eye at what he was telling me. He quickly wiped the tear away and trailed his hand down my face. His face neared mine but stopped with his lips just a breath from my own.
"Tsukino Usagi. You own my heart. I love you." He whispered gently. With no time to respond, he pushed his lips fully against mine in a kiss that would make the angels of heaven envious.
When we finally parted, due to a lack of oxygen, I looked into Mamoru's eyes. There I could see the love that he had just professed to me. Without a doubt in my mind, I replied.
"Chiba Mamoru, I give you my heart. I love you, too."
He leaned down again to claim my lips as his own before enveloping me into a deep embrace.
This is how we were found by Haruka and Michiru who had been out on a peaceful walk of their own. Thankfully, they let us be and only teased us a little about it later.
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Do you know how much I wanted to add either a youma attack or another vision?!?! It killed me. But I know that a little WAFF never hurts and thought that all of you out there reading this deserve a good shot of it!
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The next three weeks remained quiet. Unsettlingly so. There were no youma or generals to be found. Thus, we were all on edge. After all, you don't go three weeks without an attack when one was occurring everyday for months.
But, as much as possible, we tried to enjoy the free time. That is, if you consider jumping out of your seat ready to battle when the waiter drops a plate enjoyable. Plus, the weather was going through some awkward changes from what the forecast predicted, often making it difficult to even enjoy going outside.
Not to mention that the plan to find the prince and princess was moving along slower than a snail. Make that a DEAD snail. It sounded good in the planning process, but it just wasn't going as well in life.
*Flash*
(An: A large map of Tokyo is rolled out on a table. Around it stand seven girls, two boys, an older man, and two cats. A large whiteboard is mounted on the wall near the table.)
"Okay, lets start with what we know." Luna began, pacing across the table like an officer would when talking to a bunch of soldiers. "Everyone in this room was born in Tokyo. Suffice to say that the chances of either the princess or prince being born outside of Tokyo is slim." Every head in the room nodded with agreement.
"So, we concentrate on Tokyo." She concluded for everyone, though I'm sure that we had all figured that out already. "Any ideas?"
Crickets could be heard outside the shrine.
"Anyone?"
"Well, we could start by inspecting anyone in the area that has any ties to royalty. Perhaps the Queen sent the princess and prince to live life's similar to their past." Minako suggested.
"Good start. Write that down." Luna commanded and Ami stood, marker in hand, to write the idea on the board.
"If Grandfather says that it is safe, Usa, Shingo, Grandfather, and I could lightly tap into minds to see if there was any trace or indication of the princess or prince." Rei suggested, looking to Grandfather for approval.
"It should be safe, as long as we are discrete. I think we all agree that the prince and princess would be no older or younger than the oldest or youngest of you." He replied.
"Oh!" Shingo shouted out. "Maybe I'm the prince then!" Needless to say that the light slap that I had delivered to the back of his head was well deserved.
"It would be nice if it were that simple Shingo, but I don't think so." Artemis replied with a light laugh.
"Come on people, think! We need to be serious here!" Luna commanded. Michiru and Ami were laughing behind their hands while the rest of us just let it loose.
"Oh, give it up Luna!" I said, clutching my side from laughing so hard.
"Really sergeant, I think you can relax a little." Haruka said with a smile. A smile that quickly faded when Luna shot her a death glare.
"Fine." Luna simply replied as she hopped off the table. She strode over to the corner of the room and sat down in a huff. The laughter died down after seeing her get so upset, but I knew that she would come out of it just fine.
"I can try using my empathic powers like the others plan to use their telepathic powers. Just bump into a couple people and check them out." Michiru suggested.
"That sounds good." Artemis replied and Ami wrote it down.
"I could do some computer searches for articles related to mysterious powers coming from children." Mamoru supplied, although he received some strange looks. "Well, think about it. Several of you have some strange powers. I imagine that the prince and princess would have some too. Maybe they weren't as discrete as you."
"It's worth a try." Artemis said with a smile.
The ideas continued to come, but most of them would be too difficult or would yield very weak or inconclusive results. So, for the most part, we kept to the strengths of the group: telepathy and empathy. As far a researching went, Mamoru and Ami decided to team up to investigate any strange occurrences and royalty.
*Flash*
So far there had been no leads to anyone. Rei and I were suffering from occasional headaches due to the amount of people that we tapped into on a daily basis, while Shingo and Grandfather seemed okay, but still flustered. Poor Michiru had bruises on her shoulders from where she was "accidentally" bumping into people.
The only thing that Mamoru and Ami turned up were a few hoaxes, a couple of children with some outstanding powers that, although not the prince and princess, were most likely reincarnates of the moon, and one young girl that was a princess of some far off country without knowing it.
But, even with nothing but failure, we continued on our desperate search. Why desperate? Because surely the Dark Moon was working up some evil plan, or else there would have been more attacks.
As I've said before, and will say again, I hate when I am right.
It was Sunday and we decided that we should go out and enjoy ourselves. Our hard work, though not yet paying off, was deserving of a break.
Everyone arrived at the grounds of the Fall Festival at about 2.00 pm, dressed in our best kimonos. After all, some traditions should not fade and this was definitely one of those traditions.
I have to say that everyone looked beautiful, even Haruka, who mumbled something about being handsome, not beautiful. I, however, was not the only person with this opinion. It seemed as if a lot of people were staring at us. It was a little unnerving, but mattered less and less as I began to enjoy the foods and games of the festival.
The highlight planned for the evening was to be a concert performed by Hana, a local singer. A small stage had been set up and benches were set up around it. We had planned to arrive early to get good seats, but Makoto had ended up in a conversation with a chef at one of the food stands.
So, just on time for the start of the concert, we found ourselves in the farthest seats from the stage. But I was still grateful that we would still be able to enjoy the show.
Unfortunately, three songs into the concert, the electricity went out and everything went dark. The clouds in the sky prevented the moon from aiding in the lack of light and people were starting to panic.
Then a single light shone down on the stage. Standing there were two people dressed in gray uniforms that resembled those that Jadeite and Nephrite had worn. Everyone in the audience stopped panicking and resumed their seating, apparently guessing that this was part of the show, while I started swearing under my breath.
Before I could even stand up in protest of what was about to happen, the two generals held up their hands and shot four beams of light into various parts of the audience. The beams pulled up four people, three men and one woman and brought them towards the stage.
As if by impulse, I began to run and look for a place to transform, noticing that the other senshi were doing the same. Rei, Ami, Mamoru, and I headed towards a large tree off in the distance while Michiru, Haruka, Makoto, and Minako headed to an old shed. Within a brief moment and a flash of lights we stood ready to battle.
Upon entering the makeshift concert hall, I could see the first general with blonde hair tied into a ponytail reaching for a blue crystal that he had retracted from the woman. The other general, who had silver hair that hung loosely around him, was reaching for a green crystal from the man. The two other men were still suspended in the air. The people in the audience were watching the stage and applauding as if it were a magic show.
"Well, if they want magic..." Haruka mumbled.
And with that improvised signal, everyone sent off their attacks towards the stage.
Both generals were caught off guard by the onslaught of attacks. The blonde general dropped the blue crystal and with a flick of my wrist, I floated it to my hand. I gazed at the blue crystal for a moment and then tossed it to Ami, who had been designated to guard it.
The white haired general, however, quickly pocketed the green crystal.
"Zoisite!" The white haired general yelled at the blonde. "I'll take these nuisances, you continue to get the crystals."
"Yes Kunzite." Zoicite said with a quick nod of his head.
Although we had yet to stop firing attacks at the two generals, nothing since the first wave of attacks seemed to be affecting them.
"They must have some kind of a shield." Mamoru suggested as one of his roses stopped mid-flight and fell to the ground.
"I'm on it." Ami replied, quickly pulling out her computer.
Kunzite floated up in front of us and looked at us with amusement clearly written on his face. "So you are the Sailor Senshi. Too bad you won't stay that way." He said with an evil laugh.
Without so much as a second thought, he threw his hands up into the air and brought them back down, releasing a surge of energy that knocked us all back.
As the first to recover, Haruka threw her World Shaking at him, only to watch it bounce off to the right. Kunzite repeated his earlier move and threw Haruka to the ground, skidding back several feet.
Behind Kunzite, I could see that Zoisite had removed and pocketed a yellow crystal. What I really didn't want to see though, was that the first two people had turned into youma and were quickly approaching behind Kunzite.
"Ah, young ones, would you like to play?" He asked the two youma, which both smiled with a feral grin. "Then here you go."
Kunzite teleported away from us, leaving a blue and green youma in his wake. He reappeared on the stage with Zoisite.
The two youma growled in anger as they approached us. However, not one to waste time, I shot off my tiara, effectively slicing the blue across the arm. Knowing that our attacks would once again be affective, the senshi began to strike.
Before I could fire off another attack, Ami grabbed my arm and pulled me off to the side.
"Sailor Moon. They are removing the last crystal. You need to get it before they do." I nodded my understanding and we both waited as Zoisite removed the violet crystal from the man's body. As it floated towards him, I reached out with my powers and pulled the crystal towards me.
However, Zoisite had other plans. He used his own power to pull back on the crystal, leaving us in a virtual tug-of-war. Kunzite was not going to let this go on and fired an attack at Ami and I. Although the power was extremely strong, I refused to let go of my hold on the crystal.
Sensing our need for help, Rei came over to join our battle for the crystal, while the other senshi now fought against three youma, as the yellow one had now joined them.
"Mars... wait until his arms are in the air, then fire. His shield will go down for just a moment." Ami informed Rei, who nodded her head in understanding.
With in seconds of Ami's instructions, Kunzite released another attack of energy, but Rei intervened with a blast of fire from her fingertips. The explosion caused both Kunzite and Zoisite to fall off of their feet, and the crystal flew quickly towards me. I pocketed the crystal, noting to myself that I needed to give it to Michiru later for safekeeping.
"Damn!" Kunzite yelled with a growl before transporting away.
"You haven't heard the last of us brats!" Zoisite yelled as he also teleported away.
"Not much for fighting their own battles, are they?" Rei muttered to herself. I nodded my agreement as we rejoined the battle, now against four different colored youma.
Now, you may be wondering what happened to the audience that had come to enjoy the concert. Well, they were still there, thinking that this was some sort of show that the festival committee had planned. Unfortunately, this made them all a safety risk and easy targets.
The last of the youma to be transformed, the indigo one, realized this and began to fire his attacks not at us, but at the dumb, dumb but innocent bystanders, whom were simply enjoying the show.
The blue and green youma were beginning to slow down under the constant attacks by Michiru, Haruka, Mamoru, and Minako, while the yellow one was being held at bay by Rei and Ami. This left only big and ugly, and me. Really, his coloring wasn't so bad, if he hadn't have been so evil.
I fired off my tiara, effectively slicing the youma in his neck, causing him to drop his hostage and center his attention on me. Great, just what I always wanted, the attention of an ugly youma! Forget Mamoru, this is all the love I need right here.
Unfortunately, the play of sarcasm that was running through my brain left me unprepared when the youma shot a blast of indigo goop at me. I dodged, but it still caught me on my left foot. It felt as if acid were stinging my leg, yet I could not shake the stuff off of my foot.
So, lying there, basically helpless to get up and defend myself, the youma came into my sight, hovering above me with an evil grin.
I began to recite the prayers of peace that Grandfather had taught me, hoping that my soul would fly free, when and unexpected voice came to my rescue.
"Dead Scream."
The youma that was above me was suddenly gone, having flown across to the other side of the concert hall.
"Sailor Pluto." I whispered to myself, barely believing her to be there.
"I thought you could use a hand." She said as she reached down to help me stand. "Oh, now this won't do." She said, referring to the slime attached to my leg. She raised the key like staff that she had in her hand and brought it down onto my leg gently. The slime melted away, forming a gentle puddle under my leg.
"Thank you." I smiled at the mysterious green haired senshi of time.
"You're welcome. Before I leave, I must pass on some information to you." She said in a very business like manner. I nodded my head, curious as to what this woman would have to say to me. "The Queen asked me tell you that you should send your strength to the wand and then power it out into your attack. You are powering it and then releasing it towards your wand, which is why it drains you so much."
I nodded my head in understanding as she flashed me a glorious smile.
"Fight well, Sailor Moon." Sailor Pluto said as she opened a portal behind her.
"Thank y..." My reply was cut off as the portal shut around the senshi.
I turned back to the battle at hand, only to find that my indigo friend was up and hobbling towards me. It was obvious that he was extremely weak and I knew that he could be easily changed back.
So, without a second thought, I sent off a stream of healing energy towards the creature, bearing in mind Pluto's words. Within moments he was healed back into a man with dark brown hair. He floated gently down towards the audience, who were clapping wildly. I groaned internally at the stupidity of the average human before turning to join the rest of my comrades in battle.
With my ability to use the moon wand increased, it was easy to return the three battered youma to their normal human state. Thus, with everything once again good in the world, at least for the moment, we left the concert area, to a round of applause.
"Well, I guess we can't say that we aren't appreciated." Michiru said with a slight look behind her shoulder at the cheering audience.
"Oh yes, just what I wanted, a career in show business." Haruka replied sarcastically. She never saw the hand that smacked her on her shoulder.
"Hey! I do want a career in show business!" Minako yelled at Haruka, causing us all to burst out in laughter.
~*~
I suppose that in my life I have learned to deal with many strange and unusual things. After all, talking cats and birds, telepathic and telekinetic powers, and the fact that I am a senshi fighting to right the wrongs of the world, are not things that a typical 14 year old can say that she can do.
So, to say that I was shocked this morning would mean that something extreme was going on. Yet Rei, who I woke up suddenly with a scream, wondered what could have been so special or extraordinary to make me so hyper. You'd think by now she would trust me.
'Usagi.' She moaned. 'What do you want? It's not yet dawn.' I could sense her yawning and decided to wake whatever sleep was left in her brain. Best way to do that? Bounce on the bed!
"Usa!" Rei screamed at me until she finally rolled off the bed and away from my assault.
"Gomen Rei, but you won't believe this!" I said with a giggle as I dragged my dear cousin towards the front door of the shrine.
"This better be good." Rei muttered under her breath, but I knew that she would be as excited as I was, once she got outside.
"What?" Rei's shocked voice echoed through the quiet of the shrine.
"Isn't it great!" I yelled, running out into the yard.
"Snow?" Rei asked, still shocked.
"Come on Rei! It's so fun! I mean it's warm and there's snow on the ground! It's perfect!"
"Um, Usagi..." Rei started, but never finished, as I threw a snowball at her.
Talk about adding fuel to the fire. Rei began to chase after me in the snow for a while, until she caught up and assaulted me with all the snow she could gather. Finally, after an exhausting battle, be both collapsed into the snow.
"Rei, this isn't a good thing, is it?" I asked, knowing that it was most likely a really bad thing.
"Well, considering that it is October and the leaves have barely begun to fall of the trees...yeah, I'd say that it's a bad thing." She replied solemnly.
"That's what I was afraid of."
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There ya have it folks! I hope that it lives up to your expectations, especially after I made you all wait so long. Please, let me know, as I am craving reviews! If writing is life, then reviews are definitely the food source that my stomach is craving.
ChibiJ77@yahoo.com
Chapter 13
By: Chibi J
Rated: G
Editor: Sailor Sista!!!
Once again, I am dedicating this story to everyone at Aria's Ink. I know you don't think that I have been around the asylum much lately, but I have. I may not reply to the jokes, but they make me laugh. You may think that I don't hear your problems, but I do, and I feel for you, hope for you, and pray for you.
I haven't felt much in the writing mood, due to the really busy life I'm currently living. However, with a lack of anything to read today, I decided to check my reviews. There were no new ones, so I almost left. But then I decided to look at the older ones. The praise and glory you all throw on me is ridiculous, but inspiring. After all, I'm just an obsessed fan looking for a creative outlet. I'm nothing spectacular or special. But you all make me feel so wonderful that, if I wasn't slightly sunburned on my cheeks already, I would be red from blushing.
THANK YOU ALL!!!
And, since it took me so long to write this chapter, I have made it super long, just especially for you, my faithful readers!
Ps. Don't own, never will.
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*A brief interlude*
Sometimes I feel that the others are picking on me. I mean, they all know my feelings about this girl. So what do they do to me, make me talk to her more. Not just more, mind you, but in private.
"So, how 'bout you tell me what you know, and I fill in the gaps." I said in my most polite voice. Michiru nodded her head, causing her beautiful aqua colored hair to lightly bounce on her shoulders.
"Well, I know that you have all been in service for about two years. It appears that Sailor Moon is your leader, that's Usagi, right?" She questioned and I nodded dutifully. "Lets see..." She wandered off in thought, absently twirling a strand of hair around her dainty, well-manicured finger. "And Mamoru is the only male of the group, besides the talking white cat, and appears to be Usagi's."
I smiled at her last comment. Even though this development had only come about, it filled me with great happiness. Mamoru was a great guy and definitely fell into what I would consider the "close friend" category. And Usa was, well...Usa. She deserved every happiness in the world. If Mamoru could keep her smiling, then I am happy for them.
"Well then, I guess I should fill in the rest." I said with a smile, trying to clear my mind of my previous romantic thoughts. After all, what chances would I have with this lovely vision in front of me? "To start from the beginning, Usa and Rei were the first two senshi. They both have telepathic powers, as does their grandfather and Usa's brother. Soon after came Mercury and they learned that Minako was Venus, but she lived in England. Next, Makoto joined and I came shortly after and here we are."
Michiru kept nodding her head as I rambled, taking everything in with careful thought. Meanwhile, I felt like smacking myself in the head. If things came out of my mouth the way I thought they did, then I sounded like a moron.
"Okay, but what about Tuxedo Kamen?" She asked, slightly tipping her head in his direction. Like I said, I should smack myself.
"Oh yeah." I said in a rather goofy voice. 'What's wrong with me!?!' I shouted in my head. I noticed Rei, across the room, turn in my direction and stare at me with a raised eyebrow. "Mamoru lives with Makoto. They were raised in the same orphanage, so they are like brother and sister. He's kind of like a side-kick that helps out." I ended with a big grin.
"SIDE-KICK!!" Mamoru shouted. I forgot that he was only a couple of feet away from me. The evil look that he gave me made me laugh out loud. Luckily, Usagi restrained him from getting up, while the other girls didn't even seem to notice as they questioned Usagi about their relationship.
"Gomen, gomen." I said, waving it off as if it were nothing. However, I knew I would hear about it later.
Michiru and I continued to discuss the youmas, generals, and the little information we had about the bad guys. It was truly difficult to concentrate on what we were talking about due to the proximity of her body to mine. True, we had just met that day (AN: Can you believe that! I've never had one day last a whole chapter, lot less continue into the next chapter! This day started back in chapter 11!), but I definitely felt something for the girl in front of me.
Throughout our conversation, I noticed that Michiru had relaxed some and started smiling more often. When I had finished telling her everything that I possibly could, she knew almost everything about all of us. But, I realized that I knew nothing about her.
"So, tell me about yourself." I asked, trying to remedy the situation.
"Well," She began with a bright smile on her face. "I love to play the violin, regardless of the fan-dom that comes with it. I enjoy painting as a release to life. And..." She began but paused. Her face looked like a child who was holding the last cookie.
"And?" I prompted.
"And I have empathic abilities."
What?
"What?"
"I have empathic abilities."
"And what does that exactly mean?"
"That I can read other peoples' emotions by simply touching them." She said as she reached her hand over and touched mine.
'She can read other peoples' emotions. By simply touching them.' I thought to myself. Then I looked down to where her hand was resting on my own. 'She can read other peoples' emotions. By simply touching them.' Her hand is on my hand. My mind was spinning.
'Look up Haruka!' Rei's voice shouted into my own. Confused, I did as Rei said, not even wondering how Rei was involved in all of this.
My eyes came up to meet hers. They were bright and happy. She was smiling and a light blush crossed her cheeks. Without any registration of what was happening, she slowly leaned forward and kissed me on my cheek.
"What was that for?" I asked, completely lost and confused, but extremely happy.
"For feeling the same way about me as I feel about you."
I'm not sure that anyone else noticed, but I could tell that my mouth was opening and closing like a fish, due to lack of the ability to speak.
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'Why is Haruka doing an impersonation of a fish?' I wondered to myself, as I looked at the two girls in the corner. Rei had been staring at the two of them for some time, to the point where I could no longer restrain my curiosity.
"Um, gomen, what was that Minako?" I asked, blushing slightly in embarrassment for missing her question.
"I asked if this is going public." Minako replied. I turned to Mamoru to get his response. I mean, he and I seemed to be a couple, but how did he feel about it. He had been sitting quietly as the girls fired questions at me about the kiss and how it all started and what Sato had said to me.
"I'd like it to." He replied simply, flashing me a handsome smile. I blushed even more. I felt like I was melting inside.
"Ah-hem." Artemis loudly, and artificially, cleared his throat. "I'm sure we are all having a lot of fun here tonight, but it is getting late."
I looked at my watch and saw that he was right. It was nearing midnight and no one had done the evil assignments the teachers gave us. Tomorrow was the second day of school and the lack of completed homework would not make a good impression.
"He's right." Luna agreed, which was far from surprising.
Within a matter of minutes, everyone was up and stretching, or gathering their things. As we approached the front door, I could hear the sounds of rain outside on the porch.
"I didn't know it was suppose to rain tonight." Makoto commented as Rei opened the door. It was not only raining, but pouring. Ami, always the one to need to know all the facts, pulled out her mini-computer and began to type away.
"Clear skies, overnight high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit (AN: sorry folks, I don't know Celsius). Sunset at 8:41 pm." Ami read from her screen.
"Well, so much for the accuracy of weathermen." Minako said with a sigh. "We are going to get soaked trying to get home."
"And I don't even have my car." Haruka grumbled. The girls then looked to Mamoru with hope in their eyes.
"Sorry, we came here after school, well sort of." Mamoru answered the question on all of their minds. After school he had run out after Usagi. Then there was a youma. Then they went to the park. Then there was a youma and a general. Then they came to the shrine. He never had a chance to go home, a lot less pick up his car.
"I'll set up the sleeping bags in the other room." Grandfather mumbled as he walked into and out of the room. Someday I will figure out my grandfather.
'No you won't.' Echoed in my mind with three different voices. Evidently Grandfather wanted his mysterious ways, and Shingo and Rei knew that we would never understand him.
"Okay, who needs to use the phone to call and explain things to their parents?" I asked, only to see a few hands. To anyone else, the lack of parents among all of my friends would probably be a shock, but to us, it was life.
"This way." I said and led the small group, Ami, Minako, and Michiru, towards my room.
~*~
When morning dawned, I rose as normal. Stumbling around the bodies spread across the floor, I noticed Rei standing and stretching to my left. She waved at me and greeted me with a 'Good morning' that only I could hear. We quietly made our way to the kitchen to have a quick breakfast before beginning our chores. After a few minutes, Shingo joined us in the kitchen and we talked a little about how his first day of school went.
Chores, as always, took a little less than an hour to complete. The rain had stopped, leaving little puddles around the shrine as the only proof that it had rained. The sky was clear as the sun made it's way into the morning sky. It looked as though it would be a wonderful day.
'Of course it is wonderful, little miss I-got-a-boyfriend.' Rei said in a slightly jealous tone. She was raking leaves on the back half of the shrine while I was sweeping the stairs. Shingo was off picking up sticks when he heard that little bit of info.
'Usa's got a boyfriend!?!' He shouted in our minds. 'Who? Since when?' He had a slight tone of worry in his voice.
'Don't worry Shingo. It's Mamoru. Since yesterday afternoon.' I replied, hoping to alleviate some of his concern.
'Oh.' He replied simply and let the subject drop. I was slightly concerned, but opted to let him be.
"Usa?" A weary voice sounded from the top of the stairs. I looked up to see Minako rubbing her eyes as she stood on the front porch of the shrine.
"Hai!" I replied cheerfully as I bounded up the stairs.
"How do you have so much energy?" She asked as she yawned.
"Just do. You get used to early mornings around here." I said with a smile. It didn't help that I had had over a year of talking to her on the phone, late at night with the early mornings. Although it took a while, the lack of sleep no longer bothered me.
"Well, I'm gonna head home to get ready. I'll see you at school." She said as she started down the stairs.
"See you later, Mina!" I said as I waved goodbye to my friend.
Shortly after, the rest of the slumber party began to file out of the shrine. The last to leave, Mamoru, made me promise not to leave for school until he returned. I blushed and nodded my head before he leaned down to give me a brief kiss goodbye. It definitely would be a wonderful day.
~*~
Wonderful day. Yeah right! I could wish. Besides the annoying teachers, I was being stared at by every set of female eyes in the school. I could hear whispers behind my back that I couldn't quite make out. But, knowing that they were probably things I didn't want to hear, I decided not to try and find out.
In fact, I was doing such a good job of blocking out the thoughts that Rei had to yell at me telepathically to get me to respond. She was trying to set up a study group for the afternoon, but wanted to make sure that I didn't have any plans.
'No plans but homework. These teachers are vultures. They only want us to keel over from the homework so that they can pick at our remains.' I responded.
'Well thanks Usa. With that lovely thought now planted in my head, I will see you later.'
I giggled quietly to myself as I made my way out of the classroom into the hall. I was grateful for the end of the school day and the fact that I would see Mamoru as soon as I stepped out of the classroom.
However, when I saw him, I saw something that I didn't expect. Sato was talking to him, well, more like shouting. I could hear her throwing around insults about me, before she reached out and slapped him for defending me.
As I got within about three feet of them, I could clearly hear Sato, even though I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"She's a slut and so is her mom. Why would you want to go around with some low-life nobody? All she's worth is some nasty diseases and infections. Not to mention that her father is a drug dealer and her brother is in juvenile detention for stealing."
I'm sure that anyone nearby would have thought that Crayola was inspired for the color red on my face. My blood was boiling. Mamoru looked at me and simply stepped back, knowing that there would be no stopping me.
"How dare you." My voice came out with a growl that would make Luna proud. "How. Dare. You!" I shouted louder, gaining the attention of everyone around. Yet Sato simply looked at me with a smug smile.
"You know it's true, everyone does. It's all over the school." She said as she waved her hand around the student body that were watching with wide eyes. Yet, I could only see red. Flames higher that the sacred fire that Rei so loves, were burning through my veins. My hands were clutching at my sides so hard that I'm sure I could have broken a lead pipe.
Then, she sealed her fate. She stuck her finger in my face and began laughing. Her finger dropped as she felt the need to wrap her hands around her waist. She was laughing at me. Soon, everyone around, except Mamoru and the other senshi who had now come into sight, were laughing at me.
The sound of their laughter filled my ears. I could see nothing in front of me but a blur. Yet the sound of their laughter pounded in my head. Then it all stopped. I could hear only two people laughing. I knew the laughter. I had memorized that sound long ago. My mother and father. They were laughing as we all used to. In my head I could hear them laughing with Shingo and I after we heard something funny on the TV. It was wonderful! I could have listened to that sound all day.
But it suddenly died. They had suddenly died.
The sound of the evil laughter filled my head again. I forced my eyes to focus. I could see Mamoru looking at me with concerned eyes. I blinked my eyes as I moved from his eyes, to hers.
Then, everything happened so quickly. I pulled my arm back, my hand still in a fist, and threw it forward with all of my strength behind it. Not just my average strength, which was amazing due to my years of karate training, but my strength as a senshi.
I'm not sure where the hit landed, except for the fact that it landed on Sato. My body was quickly pulled back as the girl hit the ground. Again, my vision blurred, due to the energy that I had forced through my fist. The only thing that I could register was the fact that I was being pulled away. By whom and to where, I didn't know.
Unfortunately, it didn't take long to find out. After about two minutes of being dragged, I was flopped into a chair. When my vision cleared, I found myself in the principal's office. I groaned silently to myself. The two men that had been dragging me were teachers. Ironically, it was my last period teacher and Mamoru's last period teacher.
The two men quickly told the principal what they saw me do to Sato, and then left the room. Then it came. The ever-famous speech, which I swear must be printed in a book for principals. Yes, the "fighting is not condoned at this institution of learning" speech.
However, part way through his speech, there was a knock at the door. With a gruff "Enter" from Mr. Yash (the principal) the door opened. In walked six girls and one guy. You gotta love 'em.
"Mr. Yash," Mamoru began. "Please excuse us for interrupting you, but we are here to defend Usagi."
I had to laugh internally at the tone of voice he had. He sounded like a professional. However, it worked.
"Yes, Mr. Chiba. Well, what do you need to tell me?" He asked. It was obvious that Mr. Yash respected Mamoru. After all, he held the highest G.P.A. in the school and was well known for his manners and the respect he gave to his teachers.
Mamoru explained what happened and the circumstances surrounding my family. The tears began to fall from my eyes as he explained with such care the death of my family. Rei sat down next to me and wrapped her arms tightly around me. The rest of the girls stood off to the side, each with their heads slightly bowed.
"I understand Mr. Chiba, and I will see that Sato is dealt with, yet I cannot condone fighting, regardless of the cause."
Mamoru sighed deeply and his shoulders slumped down. I stood and wiped my tears from my eyes.
"Mr. Yash, I understand what I did was wrong. And I promise that it will not happen again. I will accept whatever punishment you give me." I said and bowed down my head, waiting.
"Ms. Tsukino, you will serve a week of suspension. All assignments missed during that time will be counted as zero and you will not be able to make it up."
"I understand." I said and bowed lower in acceptance. I rose back to my full height and turned to walk out the door. The girls stepped aside and let me through before following me out.
We walked in silence for about five minutes before anyone even attempted to approach me. The first was Rei. She came up on my left and grabbed my hand into hers. Shortly after, Mamoru came up on my right and took my hand into his. The rest walked behind.
As we approached the Shrine steps, a sense of dread filled my soul. I was a disgrace to the family. I had dishonored everyone that I loved. I lowered my head as we climbed up the shrine steps. When we neared the top, I noticed that Shingo and Grandfather were waiting for us. Shingo was holding Grandfather's hand and appeared to be crying.
Dread filled my heart. What had happened to upset Shingo? What else could happen today?
However, when I neared the two, Shingo ran to me and threw his arms around me. Tears ran freely down his face. Grandfather came up and wrapped his arms around us both. Rei joined in the hug soon after. Tears were coursing their way down my face. I didn't deserve such a caring family.
Slowly, we pulled apart. I opened my mouth to speak, but Grandfather beat me, although not vocally.
'Usa, I know. Do not fear my child, I understand.' Those few words filled me with comfort and I grabbed my grandfather into a hug again.
'But how...'
'Did I know?' He replied to my unasked question. 'My child, don't you know that I know everything?'
I think the look I gave him answered the question. My grandfather was many things, but all knowing he was not.
'Minako phoned us. Rei was too busy consoling you.'
"Minako?!"
"Hai." Her voice answered somewhat sheepishly as she waved a small pink cell phone.
I flashed her the first smile I had had almost all day. "Arigato."
Within moments, knowing the tension was broken, everyone had enveloped me into one large group hug. My guilt began to dissipate as everyone congratulated me for the punch I had delivered.
Our study session quickly turned into a miniature party and we were all running around the shrine having a good time. However, all good times must come to an end. Ours came with an unexpected blast of cold wind and a brief downpour of hail.
Confused by the weather once again, Ami told us of the beautiful forecast for the day. But the hail had come and gone with no explanation. Shortly after the brief storm, everyone decided to head home before suffering from more strange weather. Mamoru, however, stayed.
Mamoru and I retreated to the rear of the Shrine and chose to sit on a small bench that overlooked the back hill. We sat in silence for some time, with his arm draped across my shoulder, holding him close to me.
A soft sigh from Mamoru broke the silence. I looked up to his face, only to see that he was already looking down on me.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly.
"For what?" I asked, feeling confused.
"For what happened. You don't deserve to have such things said about you."
"Mamoru, it's not your fault. Besides, you know it's not true, that's all that matters to me." I said with a smile.
"Really?" He asked.
"Well, I would prefer that no one else believed it, but I'll be okay."
"It will be okay." He said, squeezing me in his arms.
"Thank you." I said quietly. He simply nodded his head, before leaning in to kiss me lightly.
Once again, we sat in comfortable silence, watching as the sun set into the horizon in a spectacular display of color.
~*~
I have to admit that it gets rather boring around the shrine when there is no one to talk too, no chores to do, and no homework to struggle with. The first two days weren't too bad, but the third was boring beyond belief. So truly, the events on day four of my five-day suspension could have been blamed on my wish to have something to do.
The call came through on the communicators a little after 3:00 in the afternoon. Everyone was out of school and on their way home to change out of their uniforms when Makoto and Mamoru sent out the call.
"Senshi, youma at the Mocha café."
Without much thought, I transformed and started to head towards the café, Luna and Artemis running behind. I could see Rei running ahead of me; evidently she had only been a couple blocks from home. I put on a quick burst of speed to catch up to her.
"Right, Mars, interesting meeting you here." I said with a light tone.
"Well, Moon, it has been a long time, hasn't it?" She replied sarcastically.
We continued in a light banter until we reached the café. To say that it was a mess was an understatement. A wrecking ball would cause less damage. However, amazingly enough, the damage was restrained to the café itself. The buildings on either side seemed to be intact.
The youma was of a pea green color and, for the first time ever, had a masculine figure. In fact, it lacked most of the ugliness of a typical youma as well. It was a simple, muscular, green youma. Even so, he had to go.
Unfortunately, the man he was holding in his grasp limited our abilities to attack him. Mamoru threw out several roses, aiming for his lower body. Minako attempted to aim a crescent beam at his head, but the creature easily dodged. The rest of us couldn't use our attacks, due to the large amount of area they would cover. The risk of injury to the beast's captive was too great.
However, that didn't last too long. The youma held his hand up to the man's chest and a light began to radiate from his hand. It didn't seem that energy was being removed, but more like something inside was coming out. And that it did. A red gem flew from the man's chest. The youma grabbed it and dropped the man to the ground.
With his arms free of the man, everyone let loose their attacks on the youma. He dodged several, but could not avoid all of them. He appeared to be weakening and would soon be easy to take out, but nothing can ever be what it appears.
A loud screech sounded from the man that the youma removed the crystal from. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that he was much of a man now. His body let off an eerie glow and when it faded, a twisted and snarling red youma was in his place (AN: sorry folks, these won't be the traditional crystal carriers or creatures that they turned into, although you may see a few familiar faces!).
Without a second to think, I fired off my tiara at the new youma. My tiara had little affect, seeming more like a paper cut than anything else.
"Alright Sailors, split up!" Luna yelled from her hiding spot under an overturned chair.
"And don't let that crystal get away!" Artemis added from the remains of a booth.
And thus the battle continued.
Many attacks later (AN: sorry again, I'm saving up fight scenes for some more important battles), it seemed that both youma were finally weakening.
"Sailor Moon!" Ami shouted over the sounds of multiple explosions. In her hand, as always, was the Mercury computer. "Now would be a good time to try your wand."
I nodded my understanding to the senshi of water and looked between the two youma. The only question was, which one first. The energy drain from using the Moon Wand was great and I had yet to perfect using it against one enemy. How would I be able to stand up against two?
As if in answer to my silent question (wonder if Rei had anything to do with this), the senshi seemed to have driven the two youma together, side-by-side. They were close enough that I could aim and get them both.
But will it work?
"Moon Healing Escalation!" I shouted as my body went through the motions. The power rushed out and into the two youma that stood before me.
However, my body was thrown into a fit of mixed emotions. The green youma, being of pure evil energy, was being killed. The red youma had been a human and was being healed. The two opposing forces in nature, death and life, were battling inside me, causing me to struggle to finish the task at hand.
With a scream of agony, a feeling of happiness washed over me.
Of course, after that, everything went black.
~*~
"We need to be more cautious of how she uses her power."
"Maybe she needs more training?"
"Maybe she needs more time to relax."
"Maybe she could just wait until the end to help, when we really need her."
"Maybe she needs to let us know when she wakes up so that we will not be talking about her when she does."
"Gomen." I said as I held my hand to my head and attempted to sit up. I failed miserably as my head spun.
"Usagi? Are you alright?" Minako asked in a sweet and loving voice. I really hate to dash her good mood by adding my not so pleasant response to that stupid question.
"Yeah. I'll be okay." I said with my eyes closed and my head lying on a soft pillow. A shift of the bed indicated that someone had sat on the edge of it.
I opened my eyes to be met by the concerned eyes of Mamoru. "Hi." I said quietly, worried about the expression on his face.
"Hi." He replied back, just as quietly. He brought his hand up to my cheek and stroked it gently. I reached my hand up to cover his own, touched by the love that I could feel radiating off of him.
"Usagi, do you think you could sit up?" Ami asked, computer in hand. "I'd like to run a scan to make sure everything is okay."
I nodded my head and sat up slowly, with Mamoru's help. With my first full view of the room I was in, I realized that it was not my own.
'We are at Makoto's and Mamoru's apartment.' Rei answered the unasked question that I was about to vocalize. 'It was the closest to the battle.'
"Did we win?" I asked, feeling silly immediately afterward. Of course we won, or we wouldn't be here.
"Yeah Usa, we won." Makoto answered with a smile. Everyone had squeezed into the small room, apparently to keep watch over me. It warmed my heart to know that they all cared about me so much.
Ami ran her scans and confirmed that I was okay, but maybe a little tired due to the extra energy I exerted. Everyone else continued to talk candidly around me, while I rested my head on Mamoru's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around me to help support my weight.
A short while later, Luna and Artemis entered the room, causing everyone to fall silent.
"We have taken a look into the crystal that we recovered from the battle today." Luna began. I had forgot all about the crystal that had been removed from the man. "We believe that it is from a series of crystals called the nijizuishou, which, when combined, will lead us to the ginzuishou."
I'm sure that the look that Luna received from each of us made her want to smack us all. After all, sometimes Luna forgets that we are not all knowing.
"Um," Ami started, in her usual quest for knowledge, "What is the ginzuishou?"
"The ginzuishou is a crystal of great power which can only be handled by the princess of the moon. If we are able to locate the crystal, then the princess will be revealed to us." Artemis explained. Several heads nodded, but I think that most of us were still craving more information.
"There are seven crystals, representing the colors of the rainbow. Each of you will be responsible for carrying a crystal, except Mamoru and Usagi, so that they are not all located in one place, thus making it easier for the enemy to capture. The red crystal that we received tonight will be guarded by Rei." Luna explained.
"If the crystal were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be disastrous." Luna added, making me feel a lot better. NOT!
The two cats looked at us as if that should have been enough of an explanation, while we looked at them waiting for more. Silence reigned in the room for several minutes before someone felt up to speaking.
"So you're telling us that, in addition to finding the prince and princess, which we haven't even tried to form a plan for, we have to collect these crystals?" Haruka asked with a bit of sarcasm in her voice. The cats nodded.
"But if we find all of the nijizuishou, they will lead us to the princess?" Makoto asked, double-checking her facts. The cats nodded again.
"Well, I'm free Saturday night, how's the rest of your schedules?" Haruka asked with a goofy grin, breaking the tension that had gathered. Several objects, including the pillow my head had been previously resting on, were thrown at her.
Michiru just dropped her head to her chest, suppressing the urge to laugh out loud as Haruka was pelted by pillows, an alarm clock, two different shoes, and a small plant (which Makoto yelled at Minako for). Although I'm unsure of what is between Haruka and Michiru, I could sense a deep bond forming.
~*~
The rest of the day was spent casually and as the evening approached, everyone began to wander home. Rei and I were preparing to depart, with Luna and Artemis at our feet, when Mamoru approached me.
"Usa, can you and I go for a walk?" He asked in a shy and sincere voice. I nodded my head and sent a short telepathic message to Rei to let Grandfather know where I was.
After leaving the apartment building, we wandered in silence towards the park. A sigh escaped from me when we approached the park. Even though it had been the location of many attacks, it truly was a beautiful place to visit. The night sky was alight with stars and a small sliver of the moon. The small lake reflected the sky in a mirror like quality, making it appear as if heaven had landed on earth.
Mamoru led me towards the bench by the rose bushes, a spot we were beginning to frequent more often, and we both sat down. The comfortable silence that had enveloped us continued on for some time, until Mamoru shifted slightly. I looked to find him staring down at me.
"What is it Mamoru?" I asked quietly, not wishing to disturb the beautiful atmosphere of the park.
"Usa, do you know that you are beautiful?" I blushed. What else was I suppose to do?! "You have such a caring soul and a wonderful outlook on life. So few people have even one of those traits."
"Mamoru..." I tried to speak, but he quickly cut me off by placing a finger to my lips.
"Usagi, please, let me finish." I nodded my head and he removed his finger from my lips, only to rest his hand on my cheek. "It has been a long time since I have let anyone into my life. When my parents died, a part of me felt as if it had died as well. When I met Makoto and found that she was suffering just as I was, I felt that I had a weight lifted off of me. I learned to care for Makoto as a little sister and she responded in kind to me.
"But I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that I would feel the way that I do when I am around you."
I felt a tear escape from my eye at what he was telling me. He quickly wiped the tear away and trailed his hand down my face. His face neared mine but stopped with his lips just a breath from my own.
"Tsukino Usagi. You own my heart. I love you." He whispered gently. With no time to respond, he pushed his lips fully against mine in a kiss that would make the angels of heaven envious.
When we finally parted, due to a lack of oxygen, I looked into Mamoru's eyes. There I could see the love that he had just professed to me. Without a doubt in my mind, I replied.
"Chiba Mamoru, I give you my heart. I love you, too."
He leaned down again to claim my lips as his own before enveloping me into a deep embrace.
This is how we were found by Haruka and Michiru who had been out on a peaceful walk of their own. Thankfully, they let us be and only teased us a little about it later.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Do you know how much I wanted to add either a youma attack or another vision?!?! It killed me. But I know that a little WAFF never hurts and thought that all of you out there reading this deserve a good shot of it!
*~*~*~*~*~*
The next three weeks remained quiet. Unsettlingly so. There were no youma or generals to be found. Thus, we were all on edge. After all, you don't go three weeks without an attack when one was occurring everyday for months.
But, as much as possible, we tried to enjoy the free time. That is, if you consider jumping out of your seat ready to battle when the waiter drops a plate enjoyable. Plus, the weather was going through some awkward changes from what the forecast predicted, often making it difficult to even enjoy going outside.
Not to mention that the plan to find the prince and princess was moving along slower than a snail. Make that a DEAD snail. It sounded good in the planning process, but it just wasn't going as well in life.
*Flash*
(An: A large map of Tokyo is rolled out on a table. Around it stand seven girls, two boys, an older man, and two cats. A large whiteboard is mounted on the wall near the table.)
"Okay, lets start with what we know." Luna began, pacing across the table like an officer would when talking to a bunch of soldiers. "Everyone in this room was born in Tokyo. Suffice to say that the chances of either the princess or prince being born outside of Tokyo is slim." Every head in the room nodded with agreement.
"So, we concentrate on Tokyo." She concluded for everyone, though I'm sure that we had all figured that out already. "Any ideas?"
Crickets could be heard outside the shrine.
"Anyone?"
"Well, we could start by inspecting anyone in the area that has any ties to royalty. Perhaps the Queen sent the princess and prince to live life's similar to their past." Minako suggested.
"Good start. Write that down." Luna commanded and Ami stood, marker in hand, to write the idea on the board.
"If Grandfather says that it is safe, Usa, Shingo, Grandfather, and I could lightly tap into minds to see if there was any trace or indication of the princess or prince." Rei suggested, looking to Grandfather for approval.
"It should be safe, as long as we are discrete. I think we all agree that the prince and princess would be no older or younger than the oldest or youngest of you." He replied.
"Oh!" Shingo shouted out. "Maybe I'm the prince then!" Needless to say that the light slap that I had delivered to the back of his head was well deserved.
"It would be nice if it were that simple Shingo, but I don't think so." Artemis replied with a light laugh.
"Come on people, think! We need to be serious here!" Luna commanded. Michiru and Ami were laughing behind their hands while the rest of us just let it loose.
"Oh, give it up Luna!" I said, clutching my side from laughing so hard.
"Really sergeant, I think you can relax a little." Haruka said with a smile. A smile that quickly faded when Luna shot her a death glare.
"Fine." Luna simply replied as she hopped off the table. She strode over to the corner of the room and sat down in a huff. The laughter died down after seeing her get so upset, but I knew that she would come out of it just fine.
"I can try using my empathic powers like the others plan to use their telepathic powers. Just bump into a couple people and check them out." Michiru suggested.
"That sounds good." Artemis replied and Ami wrote it down.
"I could do some computer searches for articles related to mysterious powers coming from children." Mamoru supplied, although he received some strange looks. "Well, think about it. Several of you have some strange powers. I imagine that the prince and princess would have some too. Maybe they weren't as discrete as you."
"It's worth a try." Artemis said with a smile.
The ideas continued to come, but most of them would be too difficult or would yield very weak or inconclusive results. So, for the most part, we kept to the strengths of the group: telepathy and empathy. As far a researching went, Mamoru and Ami decided to team up to investigate any strange occurrences and royalty.
*Flash*
So far there had been no leads to anyone. Rei and I were suffering from occasional headaches due to the amount of people that we tapped into on a daily basis, while Shingo and Grandfather seemed okay, but still flustered. Poor Michiru had bruises on her shoulders from where she was "accidentally" bumping into people.
The only thing that Mamoru and Ami turned up were a few hoaxes, a couple of children with some outstanding powers that, although not the prince and princess, were most likely reincarnates of the moon, and one young girl that was a princess of some far off country without knowing it.
But, even with nothing but failure, we continued on our desperate search. Why desperate? Because surely the Dark Moon was working up some evil plan, or else there would have been more attacks.
As I've said before, and will say again, I hate when I am right.
It was Sunday and we decided that we should go out and enjoy ourselves. Our hard work, though not yet paying off, was deserving of a break.
Everyone arrived at the grounds of the Fall Festival at about 2.00 pm, dressed in our best kimonos. After all, some traditions should not fade and this was definitely one of those traditions.
I have to say that everyone looked beautiful, even Haruka, who mumbled something about being handsome, not beautiful. I, however, was not the only person with this opinion. It seemed as if a lot of people were staring at us. It was a little unnerving, but mattered less and less as I began to enjoy the foods and games of the festival.
The highlight planned for the evening was to be a concert performed by Hana, a local singer. A small stage had been set up and benches were set up around it. We had planned to arrive early to get good seats, but Makoto had ended up in a conversation with a chef at one of the food stands.
So, just on time for the start of the concert, we found ourselves in the farthest seats from the stage. But I was still grateful that we would still be able to enjoy the show.
Unfortunately, three songs into the concert, the electricity went out and everything went dark. The clouds in the sky prevented the moon from aiding in the lack of light and people were starting to panic.
Then a single light shone down on the stage. Standing there were two people dressed in gray uniforms that resembled those that Jadeite and Nephrite had worn. Everyone in the audience stopped panicking and resumed their seating, apparently guessing that this was part of the show, while I started swearing under my breath.
Before I could even stand up in protest of what was about to happen, the two generals held up their hands and shot four beams of light into various parts of the audience. The beams pulled up four people, three men and one woman and brought them towards the stage.
As if by impulse, I began to run and look for a place to transform, noticing that the other senshi were doing the same. Rei, Ami, Mamoru, and I headed towards a large tree off in the distance while Michiru, Haruka, Makoto, and Minako headed to an old shed. Within a brief moment and a flash of lights we stood ready to battle.
Upon entering the makeshift concert hall, I could see the first general with blonde hair tied into a ponytail reaching for a blue crystal that he had retracted from the woman. The other general, who had silver hair that hung loosely around him, was reaching for a green crystal from the man. The two other men were still suspended in the air. The people in the audience were watching the stage and applauding as if it were a magic show.
"Well, if they want magic..." Haruka mumbled.
And with that improvised signal, everyone sent off their attacks towards the stage.
Both generals were caught off guard by the onslaught of attacks. The blonde general dropped the blue crystal and with a flick of my wrist, I floated it to my hand. I gazed at the blue crystal for a moment and then tossed it to Ami, who had been designated to guard it.
The white haired general, however, quickly pocketed the green crystal.
"Zoisite!" The white haired general yelled at the blonde. "I'll take these nuisances, you continue to get the crystals."
"Yes Kunzite." Zoicite said with a quick nod of his head.
Although we had yet to stop firing attacks at the two generals, nothing since the first wave of attacks seemed to be affecting them.
"They must have some kind of a shield." Mamoru suggested as one of his roses stopped mid-flight and fell to the ground.
"I'm on it." Ami replied, quickly pulling out her computer.
Kunzite floated up in front of us and looked at us with amusement clearly written on his face. "So you are the Sailor Senshi. Too bad you won't stay that way." He said with an evil laugh.
Without so much as a second thought, he threw his hands up into the air and brought them back down, releasing a surge of energy that knocked us all back.
As the first to recover, Haruka threw her World Shaking at him, only to watch it bounce off to the right. Kunzite repeated his earlier move and threw Haruka to the ground, skidding back several feet.
Behind Kunzite, I could see that Zoisite had removed and pocketed a yellow crystal. What I really didn't want to see though, was that the first two people had turned into youma and were quickly approaching behind Kunzite.
"Ah, young ones, would you like to play?" He asked the two youma, which both smiled with a feral grin. "Then here you go."
Kunzite teleported away from us, leaving a blue and green youma in his wake. He reappeared on the stage with Zoisite.
The two youma growled in anger as they approached us. However, not one to waste time, I shot off my tiara, effectively slicing the blue across the arm. Knowing that our attacks would once again be affective, the senshi began to strike.
Before I could fire off another attack, Ami grabbed my arm and pulled me off to the side.
"Sailor Moon. They are removing the last crystal. You need to get it before they do." I nodded my understanding and we both waited as Zoisite removed the violet crystal from the man's body. As it floated towards him, I reached out with my powers and pulled the crystal towards me.
However, Zoisite had other plans. He used his own power to pull back on the crystal, leaving us in a virtual tug-of-war. Kunzite was not going to let this go on and fired an attack at Ami and I. Although the power was extremely strong, I refused to let go of my hold on the crystal.
Sensing our need for help, Rei came over to join our battle for the crystal, while the other senshi now fought against three youma, as the yellow one had now joined them.
"Mars... wait until his arms are in the air, then fire. His shield will go down for just a moment." Ami informed Rei, who nodded her head in understanding.
With in seconds of Ami's instructions, Kunzite released another attack of energy, but Rei intervened with a blast of fire from her fingertips. The explosion caused both Kunzite and Zoisite to fall off of their feet, and the crystal flew quickly towards me. I pocketed the crystal, noting to myself that I needed to give it to Michiru later for safekeeping.
"Damn!" Kunzite yelled with a growl before transporting away.
"You haven't heard the last of us brats!" Zoisite yelled as he also teleported away.
"Not much for fighting their own battles, are they?" Rei muttered to herself. I nodded my agreement as we rejoined the battle, now against four different colored youma.
Now, you may be wondering what happened to the audience that had come to enjoy the concert. Well, they were still there, thinking that this was some sort of show that the festival committee had planned. Unfortunately, this made them all a safety risk and easy targets.
The last of the youma to be transformed, the indigo one, realized this and began to fire his attacks not at us, but at the dumb, dumb but innocent bystanders, whom were simply enjoying the show.
The blue and green youma were beginning to slow down under the constant attacks by Michiru, Haruka, Mamoru, and Minako, while the yellow one was being held at bay by Rei and Ami. This left only big and ugly, and me. Really, his coloring wasn't so bad, if he hadn't have been so evil.
I fired off my tiara, effectively slicing the youma in his neck, causing him to drop his hostage and center his attention on me. Great, just what I always wanted, the attention of an ugly youma! Forget Mamoru, this is all the love I need right here.
Unfortunately, the play of sarcasm that was running through my brain left me unprepared when the youma shot a blast of indigo goop at me. I dodged, but it still caught me on my left foot. It felt as if acid were stinging my leg, yet I could not shake the stuff off of my foot.
So, lying there, basically helpless to get up and defend myself, the youma came into my sight, hovering above me with an evil grin.
I began to recite the prayers of peace that Grandfather had taught me, hoping that my soul would fly free, when and unexpected voice came to my rescue.
"Dead Scream."
The youma that was above me was suddenly gone, having flown across to the other side of the concert hall.
"Sailor Pluto." I whispered to myself, barely believing her to be there.
"I thought you could use a hand." She said as she reached down to help me stand. "Oh, now this won't do." She said, referring to the slime attached to my leg. She raised the key like staff that she had in her hand and brought it down onto my leg gently. The slime melted away, forming a gentle puddle under my leg.
"Thank you." I smiled at the mysterious green haired senshi of time.
"You're welcome. Before I leave, I must pass on some information to you." She said in a very business like manner. I nodded my head, curious as to what this woman would have to say to me. "The Queen asked me tell you that you should send your strength to the wand and then power it out into your attack. You are powering it and then releasing it towards your wand, which is why it drains you so much."
I nodded my head in understanding as she flashed me a glorious smile.
"Fight well, Sailor Moon." Sailor Pluto said as she opened a portal behind her.
"Thank y..." My reply was cut off as the portal shut around the senshi.
I turned back to the battle at hand, only to find that my indigo friend was up and hobbling towards me. It was obvious that he was extremely weak and I knew that he could be easily changed back.
So, without a second thought, I sent off a stream of healing energy towards the creature, bearing in mind Pluto's words. Within moments he was healed back into a man with dark brown hair. He floated gently down towards the audience, who were clapping wildly. I groaned internally at the stupidity of the average human before turning to join the rest of my comrades in battle.
With my ability to use the moon wand increased, it was easy to return the three battered youma to their normal human state. Thus, with everything once again good in the world, at least for the moment, we left the concert area, to a round of applause.
"Well, I guess we can't say that we aren't appreciated." Michiru said with a slight look behind her shoulder at the cheering audience.
"Oh yes, just what I wanted, a career in show business." Haruka replied sarcastically. She never saw the hand that smacked her on her shoulder.
"Hey! I do want a career in show business!" Minako yelled at Haruka, causing us all to burst out in laughter.
~*~
I suppose that in my life I have learned to deal with many strange and unusual things. After all, talking cats and birds, telepathic and telekinetic powers, and the fact that I am a senshi fighting to right the wrongs of the world, are not things that a typical 14 year old can say that she can do.
So, to say that I was shocked this morning would mean that something extreme was going on. Yet Rei, who I woke up suddenly with a scream, wondered what could have been so special or extraordinary to make me so hyper. You'd think by now she would trust me.
'Usagi.' She moaned. 'What do you want? It's not yet dawn.' I could sense her yawning and decided to wake whatever sleep was left in her brain. Best way to do that? Bounce on the bed!
"Usa!" Rei screamed at me until she finally rolled off the bed and away from my assault.
"Gomen Rei, but you won't believe this!" I said with a giggle as I dragged my dear cousin towards the front door of the shrine.
"This better be good." Rei muttered under her breath, but I knew that she would be as excited as I was, once she got outside.
"What?" Rei's shocked voice echoed through the quiet of the shrine.
"Isn't it great!" I yelled, running out into the yard.
"Snow?" Rei asked, still shocked.
"Come on Rei! It's so fun! I mean it's warm and there's snow on the ground! It's perfect!"
"Um, Usagi..." Rei started, but never finished, as I threw a snowball at her.
Talk about adding fuel to the fire. Rei began to chase after me in the snow for a while, until she caught up and assaulted me with all the snow she could gather. Finally, after an exhausting battle, be both collapsed into the snow.
"Rei, this isn't a good thing, is it?" I asked, knowing that it was most likely a really bad thing.
"Well, considering that it is October and the leaves have barely begun to fall of the trees...yeah, I'd say that it's a bad thing." She replied solemnly.
"That's what I was afraid of."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There ya have it folks! I hope that it lives up to your expectations, especially after I made you all wait so long. Please, let me know, as I am craving reviews! If writing is life, then reviews are definitely the food source that my stomach is craving.
ChibiJ77@yahoo.com
